To Steal Time
by Saint Dezzie
Summary: Jacob/Kasumi. For them, it is a time-sensitive matter. And all they can do is fight to reserve an extension.


"You are not ready."

"The only person who can tell me I'm ready is me, not you Jacob."

"Heard from Shepard that there's something in that box that can start a galactic war. And if you've killed one of the galaxy's most infamous businessmen to take this thing back, then there's no doubt that someone else knows about that graybox, and they'll start coming after you next."

"Not unless the _Collectors_ come after me first," she snaps back. Cold and brisk. She withdraws herself into silence, marching towards her bed to sit down. He is the only person in her room right now and for the first time, she wants him out, as far away from her as possible.

This is not something she wants to be reminded of by someone else, as if she doesn't think about it every day.

Jacob has a dark expression on his face now; she knows what he's like when he looses his cool and it's not something she enjoys seeing. The only time she sees that same look on his face is when he's hunting for blood, when he's ready to give it his all to take someone down. It's the last thing she wants to handle now_—especially_ now, two hours before they hit the relay.

"I don't get it Kasumi. If whatever's in that graybox is so dangerous—enough to have your old boyfriend _killed_, then _why_ would you keep it? You really think that you can get away with something so destructive when Keiji couldn't?"

Jacob's tone tiptoed between seething concern and control that was fizzing down. He doesn't know why he's getting angry, or why he's making a mountain out of such a molehill that has nothing to do with him. Her silence isn't helping either—it's irritating him even more.

He hates that she's so quiet now. He wants her to be the woman she was when she first slipped aboard the _Normandy_, unpacking her things while explaining to him what she does, listening to her bold stories of how she acquired all of her worn-down treasures. Jacob loves adventurous girls, and she impressed him; the first time he saw her in action at the Dantius Towers, shadowing in and out of visibility delivering death-warranted electric trauma to mercs from behind, one by one, Jacob was completely sold. He couldn't see why they needed to recruit Thane, when even now he still believes that the drell assassin's stealth could never be on par with Kasumi's. Guns? She didn't always need those either.

He wants her to be the woman she is when she's among the crew. For someone who has a career that forces her to stray herself in elusion, Kasumi had no stigma in socializing. The _Normandy_ is full of shady characters that thrashed in spades but Kasumi could charm them all. Who else could bring a smile to Miranda's stony face? Or chuckles from the turian sniper? Hell even Jack had to admit that she enjoyed drinking conversations with the thief.

By and large, Kasumi had been reeling everyone in with her upbeat personality, and Jacob was no different. Somewhere along the winding road that caused their paths to brush shoulders, he made a habit to keep an eye on her. What was supposed to be just his curiosity being spoon-fed turned into an attraction. He can't pinpoint where or how. Maybe it was her hood that gave her that mysterious vibe that intrigued him, or her light and sultry voice, or the fact that she is the _curviest_ Japanese girl he's ever seen (the tight dark outfits don't change much).

The Kasumi he sorely misses right now is buried underneath a pain he admits he cannot comprehend. He's never had a lover that was taken away from him in such a brutal manner (not that he's ever had a lover he was so attached to), but he doesn't want to know the feeling. _"His head was beat inwards so that Hock could have it easy at cracking it apart. Keiji worked hard to crack safes impeccably, but that bastard insulted him by literally making a huge mess out of him,"_ he remembers her confiding in him once upon a teary night in the lounge.

A part of him feels like it probably _is_ his fault that she feels worse. The Collectors taking the crew, realizing that they're about to throw themselves into hell in less than two hours, it was just wrong of him to confront her about this now. A woman so kind shouldn't have to put up with any more of this. Life is turbulent as it always was. It's dawning on him how unprepared everyone was for this to happen so soon, and how _little_ time he has left for… everything.

* * *

Kasumi's eyes—or what most he could see—are downcast from his face. She doesn't want to look at him. Even though she doesn't understand what she did that made Jacob this upset, it hurts her that she's disappointing someone she admires so much. Jacob is a battle-hardened man; strong enough to not let an emotional trauma pull him back or lament over missing what he never had—his father, Alliance respect, it was all done and he accepts it. He looks forward, never back. It's only reasonable that he's annoyed at her dwelling on the past when something even more important was impending for them all.

Selfish on her part, she supposes.

Jacob saunters over to where she's sitting. He stands in front of her, looking down at a fully hooded head.

Swallow your pride, Taylor.

"Is it that hard for you to let go of the past?" _(Is it that hard to look at what's right in front of you?)_

Kasumi shivers inwardly at this new way he's speaking to her now. A few minutes ago his words were daggers and now they are feather-soft. This was the Jacob she's always wanted to see. Only a couple times has she ever caught glimpses of the humble soldier that he is inside, but never towards her. It's making her feel less numb now. Perhaps Cerberus and Alliance made up Jacob's character more than he cared to let on, more than he even realized.

"Call me a packrat, but I just want to keep as many memories as much as possible," she tells him quietly.

"None of them will bring him back, Kasumi."

"I know," her voice shakes, "I know, I know. It's not bringing him back to life that I'm concerned with. It's protecting what he gave his life for, what he fought for."

"Wouldn't you think that he would ask _you_ to do whatever it takes to get rid of his graybox? Wouldn't that be his way of protecting you now?"

She heaves a sigh, placing her hands on her thighs. "But I can't."

"Yes, you can," he tells her firmly.

She squeezes her thighs, her head lowers forward. Jacob swallows a large lump in his throat before lowering himself to the floor on his knees. He's looking up at her but he still can't quite see her entire face; she's avoiding that as much as possible. A lack of eye contact will not stop him from telling her what he needs to tell her.

"I'm not gonna press you about what's in that graybox," he starts saying, "and I still don't agree with the idea that you're keeping information that could destroy the galaxy when it's better to toss it and everyone will be none the wiser."

Kasumi listens attentively, fighting the saltwater building up in her eyes without looking at him.

On impulse, he takes both of her hands away from her thighs and closes them within his own. "I just want to make sure you're doing the right thing for yourself."

Jacob's large hands are enveloping her dainty ones. The touch is warm and protective; a gesture that she's having trouble processing. How is it that one minute he could be so stiff and ruthless, but the next minute, so gentle and sweet? It's an itch in her nerves, how emotional he makes her.

Kasumi was attracted to Jacob the moment she stepped onto the Normandy and he greeted her. Her thought process ran in glitches, _"Wow he's cute… He is soooo buff and hot… Oh my that ass!"_ And in the duration of Shepard's scavenge for recruits, she would stand for duty whenever Shepard needed her; yet every mission that included Jacob coming along was just _so_ much more exciting to her than if she were venturing with anyone else. Once in a while, she entertained the idea of playing damsel-in-distress just once so he could possibly come and rescue her. A Cerberus prince coming to aid the exotic geisha of vast treasures.

Her free time would be spent browsing through her book collection, envisioning the two of them as caricatures of the romance novel she would catch up on that day. They were Mr. Taylor and Miss Goto in formalities, after dark they were Fitzwilliam Taylor and Lizzy Goto or Jacob Gatsby and Kasumi Buchanan in her fantasies.

If only she weren't so short-sighted and lost in the romantic void of her daydreams, otherwise she would have caught herself falling a little deeper for Jacob Taylor.

Even Keiji slipped from her mind more often.

* * *

Jacob is not angry anymore. She can only comprehend so much of how she feels for him.

Jacob's hands shake slightly but he does not let go of her. He doesn't know what he's doing, only that he's following an instinct. "It's really complicated, isn't it?"

Finally she looks at him. Kasumi can't figure out why he looks vulnerable but it's reassuring her somewhat. Even he can crack. "Tell me about it," she responds to him.

He purses his lips, debating whether he should share with her or not.

No, Taylor. You don't have time to second-guess.

With her hands still in his, he gathers himself up and sits right next to her on the bed, their knees rubbing against each other's. "It's just that…" he begins, "all my life I was the type of person who accepts things as they come. If I got it, cool. If I don't got it, well then it's not meant to be for the moment. But if I could've had it, and missed my chance, well I tend get set back a little bit.

"But now," he lifts their linked hands to gesture her, "now I have this chance within my reach. Damned if I take it, damned if I don't, but this suicide mission we're about to take is the most dangerous thing I've ever agreed to do."

The thief couldn't help but stare at his warm eyes as he spoke to her. To hell with hiding her face right now, she just wants to see _him_.

All of him.

"Kasumi, I just want you to know… shit, I really don't know what I'm getting myself into, but win or lose, all I know is that right now—"

She acts on instinctive impulse. His voice and his concentration breaks from a kiss, delivered by a rose.

His first instinct was to close his eyes, which he did as soon as her lips touched his. Her lips are velvety smooth, moistening with every hard press against his own. This is what he wanted but he didn't think it would happen—at least so soon.

Hell of a lot better than he would have liked.

Jacob kisses her back but with more force than what she's giving him. His hands leave hers and trail around her waist, lightly squeezing her hips and bringing them closer to him until her body is turned towards him fully. Her legs prop up on the mattress and she's kneeling in front of him, kissing his thick lips like the way her books romanticized the act.

His hands must have a mind of their own, because now they are roving her body, pressing hard against her clothes like they were trying to feel any skin through the dark suit. Little noises were escaping from her throat, muffled by their sealed lips.

Two small hands push him down flat on her bed. His feet are lying on top of her pillows and he's looking up at her; he can see the whites of her eyes and the purple mark on her lower lip is near smeared.

She's breathing hard, but she rasps in a short sentence, "I want you."

* * *

"I want you."

That was all it took. Jacob yanks her down to him until her body molds against his and they're kissing again. He gives no mercy when her mouth forms a small opening and his tongue descends inside, wrestling with hers. His pants are feeling tighter now, and he's unsure of how much more he can take to wearing clothes much longer.

Kasumi breaks the kiss, pulling her tongue out fast before speaking again. "Stay with me," she tells him.

He nods at her. Jacob sits up, nudging Kasumi along until she's sitting in his lap, legs spread either side of his hips. She can feel a thick hardness forming underneath her, suddenly feeling risqué and aroused. He straightens his posture, holding her hips for support. She bites her lip while looking at him, her gloved hands massaging the back of his neck and shoulders.

He presses his nose against hers without letting their lips touch. "I don't want you to keep out the grid, Kasumi. But if you have to, let me keep track of you. Right now, later, during the fight. Stay by my side. I can't let the one of the galaxy's most selfless women die, because it's too damn hard to find anything else like you."

Her lip quivers but he doesn't notice. "We're a part of a team. You have to watch everybody too," she says.

Spoken like a true team player. Jacob is again reminded why he was so interested in her in the first place.

"Okay, you win. As long as these two hours are _ours_," he makes her promise, his voice deep and quiet. Dark fingers snake their way to the cloth of her hood. She does not waver.

"I'll steal your time if you're stealing mine."

They seal their deal with a long, fervent kiss.

Jacob cups Kasumi's face, holding her by the cheeks and chin like he would an antique glass picture frame concealing a photo of someone he could gaze at for the rest of his life. Slender arms gather around his waist to pull him closer.

A hand digs inside her hood, fingering through the soft hair that it finds. As he massages the amount of scalp his fingers can reach, her hood loosens back, sliding off the top of her head. Jacob uses this opportunity to fist through the hair that was exposing, giving her open-mouthed kisses to distract her from his ulterior motive. With one fell swoop, he pushed her hood down and pulls away from her.

She's lamenting the short-lived kiss and a wave of shyness overwhelms her. The room looks a lot brighter to her, despite that only one light source was turned on and that was next to her bed (whether that was worse or not, she couldn't figure out). The only other person who's seen her in such a vulnerable position was Keiji, and frankly it scares her a little bit that someone else was hoisting the flag.

Kasumi gulps. She isn't used to being under such scrutiny. Jacob's eyes are widening and shrinking at the same time. And God, if her hood-hair wasn't bad enough…

"You nuts? Hiding this from everybody the whole time?"

So he doesn't find her ugly. No, not at all. Not too plain but not so gorgeous that he was going to have trouble concentrating on running bullets through Collector heads when there was a hot Japanese girl running rampant with a gun and he would only want to get the mission over with so he could scoop up said Japanese girl and make her his.

A small, narrow nose. Clear skin. And brown eyes, heavily lidded with smoldering black eyeliner that made her eyes appear larger. Maybe a long time ago, when she wasn't a thief, she kept her hair in layers but now they're outgrown and wisped over her ears and neck.

She is a beauty that he would fight to come back alive to. A beauty he'll do anything to preserve.

Jacob's mouth curves in a white smile. A rumbling sound emits through his chest and exits as chuckles. "Look at this: I cannot believe you're keeping this face from everybody."

"Mmm, probably only zero-point-five percent of the galaxy has seen what I look like."

"Well I'm honored to be part of that zero-point-five percent."

"I'm glad you get to be the zero-point-five percent."

"Let me see the rest of you."

A blush tinges her cheeks. It's been a long time since she felt this schoolgirl timidity. Instead of putting her hands at her zippers and buttons, she takes his and places them right above her chest. "You do the honors, Mr. Taylor."

Mr. Taylor thumbs at the hook that rests between her chest and collarbone. The hook comes undone and he moves to undo the rest of her clothing. With each new area of flesh exposing, he adorns with a kiss or a flicker of his tongue. Kasumi begins to fumble with his clothing, but she works fast. Soon the amount of clothing he has on left levels with her leftover amount and they tumble into a playful wrestle that evolves into sighs and moans, with the garments tossed in different places—the floor, the desk, the bookshelf.

Two hours were looking too short.

* * *

They lay bare on their sides, facing each other. They had spent several good working minutes into exploring each other's figures, using their hands, fingertips, tongues, whatever they could use.. Kasumi has a good grasp of what makes her lover very stimulated and vice versa. Jacob's hand is working a slow massage on one of her breasts, easing whimpers out of her. Her face is contorted in a mixture of pleasure and impatience, whatever, he can't bring himself to pick which one. All he knows is that he's completely fascinated with seeing full-blown expressions light up her face, not obscured by a cloth covering the top half was a unique blessing in its own. She probably would never just take off her hood for anybody, let alone _allow_ someone to do it, but he did. For that, he was thankful that someone could trust him this much. For once in his life, there s someone who would let him show that he is not one who would betray or disrespect. For once in his life, someone is giving him the chance to demonstrate that trust his never misplaced in him.

Warmth bubbles in his chest. He charms her with a peck on the cheek, trailing his lips down to her neck to tongue at the hollow parts.

She can't take the teasing so she tosses a leg over his hips and juts him forward so that their chests are pressed up against each other save for his hand stuck in-between, still lingering on her full breast. Kasumi pulls his head in for another captivating kiss, her hands roving over the expanse of his lean back.

By God, was he just _warm_ to the touch. And smooth as well, except for the several creases of scarred skin that told her that he's had more than enough share of battle than she ever did. Funny considering that she had never seen these wounds, even right after she disrobed him and eyes lavished at the dark-skinned, naked man on her bed. Her fingertips were doing a little tracing here and there, feeling the dips of random wounds that have yet to heal entirely. Bullet grazes, blade slices, the most intriguing of all were a set of three parallel lines that ran down his side. Claw marks? How adventurous, she thinks.

Still, the scars are sexy in her mind. Had she been a little braver and not so much of a little girl around him, she would have jumped him sooner wearing nothing but her _'come-hither'_ hood.

His head is getting lower, making her arch slowly. Then a feeling, the _delicious_ feeling of a wet tongue on a pert nipple is there and her mouth lets out a silent scream.

Jacob rolls her till she's on her back, his body nestled between her legs. His mouth is attacking her breasts, switching it up every half a minute to give fair attention to each mound, her blunt nails digging in his shoulders.

Then something foreign, solid, makes circular motions in her inner thigh. Kasumi processes that it's one of his fingers that are moving dangerously close to her light thatch of hair. She starts wiggling her hips as an effort to tell him, _"Keep going."_

It must have been his initial plan to use his finger on her. It slides inside her fluidly and begins to work at making her writhe in his arms. Soon enough another digit enters inside, pushing and pulling in and out of her. She's losing herself in this wild mixture of being fingered and having her chest eaten out, like her whole body is a large dinner course that he's hungrily ravaging at.

She contracts around his fingers and senses her peak on its way. They haven't even done full intercourse and already she's about to come to a finish.

Her inner fluids leak out as he continues thrusting his fingers inside, curving them, rubbing around the nub and puffy lips. Kasumi's breathing goes short, her body arches up as she calls his name repeatedly. The man she's calling for sucks down on one nipple hard, with his teeth, and that's enough to make her cum, seeing a familiar white flash behind her eyes.

A wail leaves her mouth, loud enough to reach the other end of the room. Someone who may have passed by her door may have heard but neither of them could give a damn because this was sex and it was _sweet_.

Kasumi gathers herself to take deep breaths, his fingers have finally left her clit. She's steadying herself as quickly as possible to hurry up and move on to whatever wonderful activity they could do. She slides her hands under his armpits, ignoring the tickling from the hair there that pricks her palms. She pulls him up—he's a bit surprised at how strong she really is—and lunges her mouth where his neck meets his shoulder, suckling and biting until she's sure that his skin tone won't hide a hickey from her. Jacob groans from her actions, but what takes him far aback was her _hands grabbing and squeezing his ass_.

She won't deny, he has a really nice trunk. His uniform did little to mask the firmness of his glutes and for all he knows, she's been wanting to do this for a very, very long time. Probably not just her either—Kelly has made passing comments and so has Jack, _but she beat them to it!_

Kasumi grins ear to ear, still feverishly eating up his neck and working her hand magic on his ass. She can tell that he likes it by the way he moves his lower body a bit backwards to press into her hands, and comes back down to push himself against her moistening heat.

One more step in being a brave girl…

A hand removes itself from a dark cheek, and inserts itself between their bodies. He goes still in anticipation for what this hand will do. Fingers squirm around until it finds its prize.

_The prize._

Her eyes flicker down to see her hand, covering a dark penis that was nearly too big to even fit in her hand's hold. Her stomach does a twist at the thought of being stretched out so much by this thick piece. She's been quite celibate for a while.

Kasumi gives and experimental squeeze, causing him to suck in air sharply. She does it again but this time, with a pumping motion. He thrusts in her hands as she pumps him again and again and again—

Large hands yank hers away from his stone-hard member and clutch them together above their heads.

"Woman," he exhales, "no one ever told you that if you play with fire, you're gonna get burned?"

* * *

Kasumi's lower regions are tingling with excitement. Strands of her hair are swept over her eyes, her mouth is parted slightly, giving her a bedroom look that stirs a primal urge in him. She's hot as hell and it's not just because of his body weight closing over her. Her heart is racing so fast and hard, he could feel its strong little beats through to his chest.

He could not help but compliment how _good_ she looks right now.

She looks at him warmly, as the corners of her mouth move up in a smile, so do her thighs to wrap around him, his scalding penis rubbing against her clit.

Jacob's hands are still tightly gripping her wrists. He moves against her, pushing his length against her slick slit. Small cries escape her mouth, along with clipped words and phrases. "More, more… now, oh God, _I can't wait."_

He removes one of his grips from her, his hand moving downwards to position his cock's tip at her entrance. Before he moves any further, he looks into her eyes for any last-minute reconsiderations.

This is it, she tells herself. Now or never.

_Or never…_

Kasumi makes an estimation that they only have less than an hour together now. In less than an hour, they will go back to being soldiers who won't hold hands but will hold the line. In less than an hour, they will have to fight not only for themselves, or for their team and abducted crew members, but for the rest of the damned galaxy. An hour ago, she was willing to do whatever she can to protect the galaxy—the graybox, the Collectors, and now she couldn't give a single damn about the galaxy. Unless the galaxy was made up of nothing but Jacob Taylor, then she couldn't care less at the moment.

Very soon, they will have to do everything in their power to cheat death. Perhaps the rest of the team won't have to put up with fighting for their lives for a while should they survive, but as for her? Very soon, she will have to begin her life of evasion.

In less than an hour, it could be the end of everything for her.

Her heart is racing again but not in an anxious way. She shivers vividly underneath him, sobering his aroused mind. "What's wrong?" he asks her.

The tensions of hyperventilation creep up on her fast. Sexual stimulation is moving far away from her now. The uttermost infatuation that was engulfing her earlier was being replaced by a cold dread.

Jacob removes his last hand from her wrist and brings it to her face, perking her chin upwards to meet his eyes. "Kasumi, what's the matter? You can tell me anything."

Don't cry, don't cry, whatever you do Kasumi, do not cry.

"Promise not to laugh?" _(Promise you won't turn away from me?)_

He chuckles nervously, "Why would I laugh?" Suddenly he realizes just what he did. Before he can mutter an apology, her eyes scrunch together to prevent tears from leaking (failing miserably) and her mouth quivers as she racks into sobs.

She brings her hands to her face to cover her crying eyes, half pulling at her hairline in a flustered embarrassment because she's breaking down, she's lost the fire to keep burning, she said that she was going to do everything in her power to not go down so easily but already she's failing and she's _ashamed_.

Jacob doesn't really know what to do. Comforting people wasn't exactly his strong suit.

But loving someone, he could try. He could damn well try.

He doesn't take her hands away from her face, but instead moves some of the stray strands of hair that he thinks might be irritating. He's giving her time, and while he does he gives pecks on her exposed wet cheek.

"Jacob I'm scared…" he hears.

"You, scared? Not you Kasumi."

"But—" She quakes. "But I am. I am, because…" Her cracked voice weaves in and out of coherence, still Jacob does his best to put each trimmed word together. "Jacob, I'm scaredthatthisisallgonna—!"

"Wait, slow down, huh?"

"I'm scared. _That this_. Will be_. The last._ Time. _For everything_."

Kasumi is no longer sobbing but she's still making kitten-like whimpers. Whether he was going to lecture again, or if he was going to kiss her tears away, it wouldn't make her forget that she just ruined what good thing they were having, and again, could probably never finish.

Jacob rests his face down, facing her cheek. He can't see her reacting to a spur of the moment imagination she has of him, lying against a wall with blood leaking from a wound that pronounces his time, huffing in a dying breath, _"Finish up for me, alright?"_

"I'm scared the Collectors or the Reapers could take you away from me. They could take you all away from me," she thinks of the crews' faces fondly, "but you, I don't know if I could keep going if we lost you—if _I _lost you. And if I die, then everything I've pledged for will all be for nothing, and I wouldn't have you anymore.

"And… even if we all did survive, I have to leave. And you can never contact me, or try come looking for me."

Jacob grits his teeth from hearing this truth. A weird sensation churns in him, like a frog caught in his throat. He's thinking of everything she just said but sees it with the tables turned—he will never see her again either way. He wants to react, but he's a soldier. He either accepts that the worst could happen, or fight.

Or he could fight for the best thing to occur. He will damn well fight.

* * *

He lifts himself up from her to adjust back into the position they were in before—between her legs. He removes her hands from her eyes and leads them back in his grasp above their heads. Without her consent, he harshly pushes himself inside of her wet cavern fast.

He doesn't stop there, he keeps pushing deeper but slowly while she makes open-mouthed gasps of surprise. Jacob keeps pushing, stretching her out as much as he can to prepare her for the rest of the lovemaking. She's so tight, and it's making him painfully aware how long it's been since he's last been intimate with a woman.

This makes her stop crying, which is good. She's still wet and he's still hard which tells Jacob that the mood isn't completely lost. He takes her silent reaction as an opportunity to pull back out, and plunge back in harder than his initial entry. Her bundle of nerves flutters around his length, adjusting to his girth.

He's thrusting now, deep and deliberate, emitting loud sighs from her pretty mouth. A big change from a minute ago. Waves of delight surge in the pit of her stomach, meeting him at every thrust he gives her. His hot breath puffs against her lips (that have lost its funky makeup) and his sweat drips on her face, her neck, and the space between her breasts as he picks up his speed, letting out low groans of his own from the pleasure. She spreads her legs wider for him, hungry for his cock to fill her to the hilt.

Now that he's about as deep as she wants him to be, she's more vocal now. Her moans are coming from her throat and it's driving him crazy that it is possible to want her more than ever.

Jacob rocks her body with his undulating hips, putting a bit more strength into his pushes. He'll do anything to keep her making those sexy noises. With every sexy sigh she makes, his name comes out in whispers.

Finally he lets go of her hands and wraps her around his arms, shoving his length in her so deep that her head is pushing the pillow upwards. His lips ghost over her ear. He wants her to hear what he wants to tell her, from the bottom of his heart:

"It's okay—"

Thrust.

"—to be scared,"

Thrust. Fast, faster.

"But know that I'm here—"

Thrust.

"—and I'll do whatever it takes to keep us alive. Trust me."

Thrust, thrust. Slower now.

"And promise me that you'll do the same. Afterwards, we can rethink this hiding thing. We'll find a way to make it easier for you."

A harder thrust, and a sigh in response.

"—make it easier for us," he decides.

The words touch her earnestly. She presses her cheek against his. "I promise."

He starts surging himself in her, faster, harder, he's practically plowing into her now and she's loving every sharp jostle of satisfaction that rips through her. Heat gratifying between them. The comforters of her bed are already in a wrinkled heap at their feet—no clue how that occurred.

Ragged breathing is one of the only sounds they hear, along with the smacking of flesh on flesh, lips on lips. He whispers small words to her, over and over, a promise and prayer.

"_You'll never leave my side, baby."_

Jacob picks up his pace. Her hands are rubbing all over his back again, clinging against him. He's so close, she's so close. There's no time…

Kasumi bends her knees up slightly to have them pressed alongside his waist, allowing deeper entry for him inside her. No man has ever filled her as much as Jacob. Her head thrashes against the mattress causing her hair to fan out like a black halo. Loud cries emanate from her throat but she can't help the volume when she's feeling that elusive orgasm coming again.

Jacob feels her tightening around his cock and that makes him inches closer to his own release as well. "I'm ready," he tells her. "With me?"

Kasumi nods, wrapping her arms around his neck and doing the same with her legs around his body, cajoling him to stab harder. He can only comply by burying his face into the crook of her neck and jerking into her one last time, letting out a guttural howl as he gives in to his needs. Kasumi bites her lip; she feels the hot liquid spurting inside her in and the pressure explodes as she submits to her own natural desire. She's tighter than ever around his shaft and she sees colors behind her eyes that she didn't know existed.

There is a stickiness spreading underneath her on the bed, mixed with all of the sweat that was everywhere else on the sheets but she couldn't come to care about that.

She had fallen hard for Jacob, and he was there to catch her.

"I thought I was the thief, but you stole something very important from me, Jacob."

"Mmm… and what's that exactly?"

Her index finger traces an invisible shape on his back, one that she knows he could recognize by the stroke patterns. He's too intelligent to not know the shape.

"A heart…" he mutters.

Neither of them could tell how long exactly they had been laying in the same position after climaxing. He was still on top of her heavily. He had dozed off nearly right after finishing but not before a little cuddling and more soft kisses for her. Kasumi was keeping herself awake by absently rubbing on Jacob's scalp, content with just contemplating that this is the man who loves her, who adores her enough to take steps through hell to save a galaxy they know she belongs in.

As long as he will let her walk with him in the trepid journey, while holding his hand, she was going to be okay.

The intercom rang with an announcement. It is time.

They sit up in a daze. Panic flashes in their eyes for a millisecond, but they smile at each other instead. Jacob sweeps her in with one arm and kisses her passionately, bruising her lips.

Finally they break the kiss. They stare into each other's eyes; some fresh love shielded by confidence.

"Let's finish this, and then we'll come back to each other. For good."

"For good."


End file.
